Dolly Parton: Historia de una vida

I look forward to seeing this movie every Christmas, but somehow I cannot find it to watch. What happened to the good, clean Christmas movies? This should be a yearly Movie just like Rudolf, Frosty, etc.

I watched this movie on a whim, without any foreknowledge of it, and was pleasantly surprised.

Too often, producers search for universal appeal by eschewing universal truths. This film is a very rare exception. Not only does it target the Christian viewer, but it does so with a fairly good narrative, which centers on family, love, and the power of redemption.

The acting is good, and the beautiful Appalachian scenery and talented singing are both notable.

There are references to the Bible, as well as one to Lucy Maud Montgomery (the writer of "Anne of Green Gables"). I can't tell you how refreshing it is to see open appeals to faith on TV.

By contrast, I recently saw an animated Christmas special which was blatantly ashamed of Christmas, but somehow still misappropriated the word in its title. "Coat" is not properly a Christmas special, as it does not specifically revolve around that day, but, if anything, this helps prevent it from falling into clichés.

Worthy is His name, and He works out all things for good, even in the difficult times of life. Sometimes we are so richly blessed, little Dolly with a big family, that we do not realize the blessing until He takes away part of it.

We do not understand why a child has to die so early, but forget that all those little children do not have to go through this hard school of life and work out their salvation with fear and trembling. They just go over into Eternity, because they do not know yet the difference between good and evil (Deu 1:39) and have not yet reached the Age of Accountability.

Remarkable actors (especially Dolly and her mother), beautiful settings, thrown back in time into a typical life of hard work and little diplomacy in words. And a story of a stubborn father, as so many out there, who refused to follow our faith, even though modeled at perfection by his wife. Her perseverance will be decisive.

* The only negative point of the movie is the scene where little Dolly argues with THEOS. This dialogue is overly dramatic and the language is nearly blasphemous. The script writers should not have chosen such language. We can utter our doubts and frustrations, but this one went way too far.

Let me first start by saying that now days its really hard to find a family movie that can be free of sexual scenes, profanity language that at the same time can be entertaining. I enjoyed this movie from start to finish.

My family ages, 43, 39, 7,14 watched this movie together and would watch it again. The movie is not about how Dolly got famous, but more about redemption, love and how Dolly's family despite being very poor had it all ( love, GOD, faith, moral).

It leaves a strong message and cannot wait to see it again on Christmas day, as it was announced it was a hit with 13 million viewers nationwide.

At the start of the movie, young Dolly walks into church with her guitar ... and enough makeup on her face to be accused of looking like a harlot. The start of a lifelong tradition.

Alyvia Alyn Lind does a great job as this somewhat naughty and rebellious girl who is basically good and has a strong faith. But she's not the best actor in the movie. More on that in a minute. Lind makes us like her and convinces us she will be someone famous, although we already knew she would be. She goes through so many trials, including bullying and the loss of a sibling she was going to take care of and love. But while her faith is challenged, she shows us the true meaning of her faith. Plus she can sing.

Regardless of what I think of Jennifer Nettles' music, as an actress I predict she will get an Emmy nomination. She is so kind and loving, though she must also be so depressed she thinks life can't continue. And then she picks herself up and moves on with life, even with all the trails and tribulations. She is not the serious, strict parent I was expecting, and yet she holds that family together. And while she doesn't have all her facts right, Avie Lee is a strong believer and like Dolly, delivers a meaningful message of faith. Oh, and she can sing too. And it's the good kind of country music too.

Rick Schroder isn't quite the father I would have expected. He has his moments and does a good job overall, but he seems kind of weak in the presence of Dolly's stern but loving father. He somehow seems secondary to his wife in holding the family together. Still, Robert Lee is challenged by adversity and can't believe in the same way his family wants him to.

Gerald McRaney does his usual fine job as the stern but loving preacher father who has never quite accepted Robert Lee. But he's trying.

Mary Lane Haskell gives us a capable and caring teacher.

There are plenty of other good performances from the kids. The bullies may not be bad people but may just need love.

Is it squeaky clean? Of course not, but what would you expect from this tough family? There are several curse words but this is probably still fine for the kids. The sex-related talk will probably go over kids heads but they might ask questions. Still, this is quite family-friendly.

It's a wonderful effort overall.